BMW IBSF World Cup in Lake Placid/USA - the Preview

All eyes on the race to the Skeleton World Cup – Nikitina and Yun lead the pack

Lake Placid (RWH): The race for the two overall skeleton titles in the BMW IBSF World Cup has proven to be extra exciting this 2018/2019 season. While Elena Nikitina of Russia leads the women’s event with just 43 points over defending World Cup title holder Jacqueline Lölling (GER), Sungbin Yun (KOR) has just a single-point lead over Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov in the men’s event. By winning his first race of the season in St. Moritz (SUI) in January, Yun only just edged past Russia’s 2014 Olympic gold medal winner to steal the lead. Both athletes have finished on the podium three times at previous World Cup races in Lake Placid. However, Alexander Tretiakov is the only one of the pair to have actually won a race there, securing gold back in December 2016.

Lake Placid (RWH): The two Olympic Bobsleigh Champions Mariama Jamanka and Francesco Friedrich (both GER) will arrive in Lake Placid (USA) at the top of the overall rankings for the BMW IBSF World Cup ahead of the penultimate race in this season’s eight stops. In 2-woman bobsleigh, Mariama Jamanka holds a 99-point lead over her team mate Stephanie Schneider.

The European Champion already has three wins and three podium finishes under her belt so far this winter. A win in Lake Placid would mark a first for Mariama Jamanka: At her previous two World Cup appearances at the Mt. Van Hoevenberg Combination Bobsled, Skeleton & Luge Track in 2016 and 2017, the German athlete finished in seventh and fifth respectively.

The circumstances are eerily similar for her team mate Francesco Friedrich: Despite having already competed in as many as eleven World Cup races in Lake Placid, the Olympic gold medallist in the 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh in PyeongChang has only managed one bronze medal from November 2012 and most recently one gold medal in the 2-man event back in December 2014.

Königssee (RWH): The bobsleigh pilots Katrin Beierl (AUT, 2-woman bobsleigh) and Richard Oelsner (GER, 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh) and the skeleton athletes Anna Fernstädtová (CZE) and Felix Keisinger (GER) are the 2019 Junior World Champions. Racing on the artificial track in Königssee (GER), Katrin Beierl/Jennifer Onasanya (AUT) secured a 0.01-second lead in the 2-woman bobsleigh to beat the defending title holder Andreea Grecu of Romania and her brakewoman Teodora Vlad. The bronze medal was won by Kim Kalicki/Kira Lipperheide (GER), which meant they also won the Under-23s World Championship title at the same time.

Königssee also saw Richard Oelsner (GER) win the Junior World Championship titles in both the 2-man and 4-man bobsleigh events. Markus Treichl of Austria took home the silver in both disciplines. Rostislav Gaitiukevich (RUS, 2-man bobsleigh) and Michael Vogt (SUI, 4-man bobsleigh) and their teams won bronze. The title of Under-23 World Champion 2019 was awarded to Jonas Jannusch (GER) in the 2-man event, while Kaizhi Sun of future Olympic host China won the 4-man bobsleigh.

Anna Fernstädtová won the Czech Republic’s first ever Junior World Championship title in skeleton. The 22-year-old athlete already won gold in the 2018 IBSF Junior World Championships, though that was racing under the name Anna Fernstädt as a competitor for the German team. The silver medal in Königssee went to Kim Meylemans of Belgium ahead of Youth Olympic Champion Ashleigh Pittaway of the UK with bronze.

Felix Keisinger (GER) was awarded the title of 2019 Junior World Champion in the men’s skeleton in Königssee. The overall winner of the 2018 Intercontinental Cup pushed his team mate and overall winner of the IBSF Europe Cup Fabian Küchler (GER) into second place. The Junior European Champion Evgeniy Rukosuev of Russia finished in third.

Sigulda/Innsbruck (RWH): The titles for the 2019 IBSF Junior European Championships were awarded to five athletes from four nations in Sigulda (LAT) and Innsbruck (AUT).

Yulia Kanakina and Evgeniy Rukosuev of Russia won the titles in the skeleton events. At the final to the IBSF Europe Cup in Sigulda (LAT), Yulia Kanakina won the standings in the women’s European Championships ahead of France’s Agathe Bessard, who won bronze at the 2016 Youth Winter Olympic Games. Local hero Dārta Zunte of Latvia won bronze. In the men’s skeleton, Junior European Championship gold went to the Youth Olympic Champion Evgeniy Rukosuev. His team mate Vladislav Semenov (RUS) took home silver ahead of Latvia’s Krists Netlaus with bronze.

Bobsleigh pilot Alena Osipenko and her brakewoman Alexandra Iokst won the title of 2019 Junior European Champions. Russia’s Lubov Chernykh and Yulia Belomestnykh won the Junior European Championships in the U23 category.

Ralfs Bērziņš of Latvia was awarded the title of Junior European Champion 2019 in the 2-man bobsleigh. At the last race in the Europa Cup, the local hero and his brakeman Dāvis Spriņģis won the European Championship standings in front of a home crowd in Sigulda, finishing ahead of Russia’s Rostislav Gaitiukevich/Vladislav Zharovtsev with the silver medal. The bronze medal in the Junior European Championships went to Hans-Peter Hannighofer/Christian Ebert (GER). Mihai Tentea/Ciprian Daroczi of Romania won the U23 competition in the Junior European Championships ahead of the two Latvian teams of Helvijs Babris/Edgars Nemme with silver and Dāvis Kaufmanis/Edgars Pirogs with bronze.

Lake Placid (RWH): Lake Placid in the USA will host the 2021 IBSF Bobsleigh and Skeleton World Championships. The decision was made at the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation’s (IBSF) annual congress in Salt Lake City in the summer of 2017. Lake Placid’s bid to host the event received 24 votes compared to 19 for its opponent St. Moritz (SUI).